You may not be able to teach old dogs new tricks, but in Royal Oak their owners are catching on quickly when it comes to licensing their pets.

Close to 3,000 new dog licenses have been issued since the beginning of June, nearly doubling the number of licensed pooches in Royal Oak in less than six weeks.

The timing is no coincidence. City officials have been talking about increasing license fees and enforcing compliance since May.

A new citywide dog census started this week in an effort to boost dog license compliance. City Manager Don Johnson said the media and people in town get excited when it comes to dogs.

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“It has gotten an awful lot of publicity,” he said. “I’ve gotten more calls on this than any other city issue in years. I consider the program a success already based on the number of people who have licensed their dogs since June.”

When Johnson first approached the City Commission in May about doing the dog census to increase licensing, only about 3,500 of the Royal Oak’s estimated 23,000 dogs were licensed. Johnson said he is unaware of any other city doing a similar census to increase compliance.

City Clerk Melanie Halas said 2,079 new licenses were issued in June and another 900 during the first 10 days of July.

Thousands of Royal Oak residents contacted the clerk’s office for licenses as word about the dog census spread.

“They are saying they did not know they had to license their dogs,” Halas said.

There are about a half-dozen dog census workers going door-to-door in the city and handing out notices to owners with unlicensed dogs, giving them 14 days to comply or risk being ticketed and paying a fine of up to $500. Those dog owners will also have to pay a $20 late fee when they buy a license.

The motive is to increase the number of dogs with verifiable licenses and rabies vaccinations. Johnson has said that more than half of the 32 dog-bite incidents in Royal Oak last year involved unlicensed dogs.

License fees increased July 1. For spayed or neutered dogs licenses cost $7 for one year, $14 for two years and $20 for two years.

Royal Oak senior citizens 60 or older get a $2 discount on any license purchase.

By state law all dogs six months and older must be licensed.

Dog census workers have issued several dozen 14-day notice warnings to owners with unlicensed animals since Monday. The city’s animal control officer will follow up on monitoring which dog owners comply after getting the notices.